Disney Theatrical Group

A division of The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Theatrical Productions was formed in 1994 and operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher. Worldwide, its nine Broadway titles have been seen by over 133 million theatregoers and have been nominated for 59 Tony Awards®, winning this honour 20 times. The company’s inaugural production, Beauty and the Beast, played a remarkable 13 years on Broadway and has subsequently been produced in 28 countries. In November 1997, The Lion King opened on Broadway and has welcomed more than 85 million visitors worldwide to date, playing in 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica! Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA opened next on Broadway, followed by Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, which opened in London in 2004. Tarzan, which opened on Broadway in 2006, is now an international hit with an award-winning production in its 9th year in Germany. The Little Mermaid was the number one selling new musical on Broadway in 2008 and in 2012 the company opened two critically acclaimed productions on Broadway: Newsies and Peter and the Starcatcher. Aladdin is its most recent Tony Award®-winning production which is currently playing on Broadway, in Japan, Germany, Australia, on tour in North America and here in the UK, where it joins The Lion King, which is now in its 18th year in the West End. Frozen, based on the Academy-Award® winning film, is slated to open on Broadway in spring 2018.

Other successful stage ventures have included the Olivier-award nominated Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical and Der Glöckner von Notre Dame and King David in concert. The company has collaborated with leading regional theatres to develop new stage titles, including The Jungle Book and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

With 17 productions currently produced or licensed, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day.